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Jesus Wept
Sick City
2004, Strikefirst
I was a fan of xDisciplex A.D., hailing from Erie, Pennsylvania - a fertile breeding ground for hardcore if ever there was one. They had chops and lyrical intensity that really impressed me, that retained the spirit of hardcore and had a sound of their own. Having broken up xDx a few years ago, and with a side project called Anchor that released one EP, Dave and Dan Quiggle formed Jesus Wept last year to immediate acclaim from old fans, and started the process of winning over new ones. This seven-song EP is surely a large step towards that goal, bringing the rock with the insanely catchy title track, which combines oldschool intensity and production with a killer breakdownthat immediately plants itself in your head.
The stark, hard-hitting lyrical toughness of Dan Quiggle is unavoidable; these words leave little room for compromise. "I am the fool that ruins what we‘ve got/I am the backbone of modern thought," goes ‘One Hand‘. "Let that hand burn/I get what I deserve." It‘s refreshing to hear Christians speaking unvarnished truth, and yet pursue the lyrical train of thought through its conclusion on ‘Cold Weather‘: "you thought you knew us better/you thought you‘d see us fall(we‘re stronger than that)/we‘re gonna push right through this cold weather." As the title track succinctly puts it, "redemption can‘t be found within yourself or those around."
A Freya-ish breakdown can be found on ‘Father Forgive Me‘, bringing out the swinging, groove-based New York City hardcore sound that will always, always get points with this reviewer, while ‘Thank God There‘s More To Life Than This‘ is basically a punishing, lurching riff over what sounds like a frantic 911 call; it‘s unsettling, to say the least, and leads into the finale on an unbalanced note, where the band deftly supply some - what? - clean singing vocals, which is a switch.
This isn‘t anything new, and I don‘t believe anyone will refer to it as such; it‘s just top-notch hardcore with all the elements. Hopefully a full-length album comes soon from Jesus Wept, but for now this will definitely do.
- Mike Postma
Copyright ©2005